Last year we lost Magister Les Hernandez to small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma. There were a number of varied multi media messages produced by Satanists about his loss. I spoke out against some of these, especially the ones that were backed with a profit motive, and in that commentary I had reframed the loss of a friend into an infantile behavioral statement.
I have for the past year felt a fair amount of shame about my own behavior in our loss of this paragon of Satanism, Les Hernandez, and rather than allowing the day and weeks that followed to be spent in celebration of his life, I spent it in catty back and forth with others who were forgetting the impact this man had on the world around him, and the religion we all shared.
Now with time and reflection, I am able to admit my own idiocy and reconcile my embarrassment with the celebration of the legacy and memory of Les Hernandez.
Les was the type of man who welcomed you as a peer, even when you didn’t act like one, and in the span of time between interactions that could stretch months, when we reconnected as if we were daily friends. I try to live my life in this manner and use his memory as a yard stick in which to measure my own interactions and impact on others.
On this anniversary of our loss, may we all recall an interaction with Les, or a moment of impact his voice, writings or music had on us.
Hail Magister Les Hernandez!
Hail Satan!